Predicting the match order at SummerSlam 2020

It’s one thing to predict the winners and losers at SummerSlam 2020, but how about taking a guess at the match order on that card?

WWE has announced eight different segments for the main card of SummerSlam.

Here is my subjective view of how important each of these eight segments rank, ordered from most important to least important.

1. Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton
2. Braun Strowman vs. Bray Wyatt
3. Dominik Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins
4. Sasha Banks vs. Asuka
5. Bayley vs. Asuka
6. Mandy Rose vs. Sonya Deville
7. Street Profits vs. Andrade & Angel Garza
8. Apollo Crews vs. MVP

It is important to come up with a list like this to get an idea of which matches are going to be placed in the key spots on the card or take up the most time, and which matches might end up in the cool-down spots or be given the least amount of time.

I’m placing Seth Rollins over both of Asuka’s matches because I expect his Street Fight to receive more time than either one of them, we’ve already seen both of Asuka’s matches on television in recent weeks, and Bayley just lost a match against Naomi on SmackDown in a couple minutes, devaluing her championship.

Rose vs. Deville will probably get the least time on the card out of these eight matches, but I’m ranking it ahead of Crews and Andrade because it has much higher stakes.

Main event

The main event match will either be McIntyre or Strowman.

Ever since McIntyre vs. Orton was booked, it has seemed like the no-brainer main event for SummerSlam. Orton is pushed as the top heel in the company, and McIntyre is pushed as the top babyface. I penciled their match in as the main event in my initial draft of this article and didn’t give much thought to any other option.

But after watching the go-home episode of SmackDown, I’m very tempted to select Strowman and Wyatt for the main event. I think there is a decent chance that McIntyre/Orton will have a screwy finish, leading to a rematch one week later at Payback. Whereas I could see the “You’ll never see it coming!” tagline end up applying to Strowman’s match, whether that is in the form of a crazy angle with Alexa Bliss, The Fiend, or even Otis and his Money in the Bank briefcase.

I’m going to stick with McIntyre and Orton for the main event, because it’s the safest option, but don’t be surprised if Drew once again fails to main event a pay-per-view as the WWE champion.

Opening match

The opening match of the night is usually one of the mid-level attractions with good work rate that doesn’t require a dedicated video package ahead of time to hype it up.

Asuka is wrestling twice on this card, and her first match will be against Bayley. It’s certainly possible that both of her matches will take place in back-to-back segments, like with Becky Lynch defending her titles in separate matches against Lacey Evans and Charlotte Flair at Money in the Bank 2019. But I think it’s more likely that Asuka’s matches are split up at SummerSlam, in which case the fight with Bayley is a clear choice for the opening match of the night.

That gives me the following card:

Segment 1: Bayley vs. Asuka
Segment 2:
Segment 3:
Segment 4:
Segment 5:
Segment 6:
Segment 7:
Segment 8: Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton

Segment 6 and Segment 7

SummerSlam should include some of the most important matches of the night leading up to the main event. That means selecting between Sasha Banks, Seth Rollins, and Braun Strowman. I think it makes the most sense to fill out Segment 6 and Segment 7 with two of these fights, and perhaps use the leftover match to help anchor the mid-card.

Strowman vs. Wyatt will be far different from McIntyre’s match, so I think it’s reasonable to slot it in Segment 7, right next to the main event.

I’m going to place Sasha’s match in Segment 6. There are three women’s matches on this card, and WWE usually spaces them out a bit. That means one of them should occur among the final three segments, and Sasha is the best choice for that spot.

That gives me the following card:

Segment 1: Bayley vs. Asuka
Segment 2:
Segment 3:
Segment 4:
Segment 5:
Segment 6: Sasha Banks vs. Asuka
Segment 7: Braun Strowman vs. Bray Wyatt
Segment 8: Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton

Everything else

Segment 2 is a good candidate for the least important match of the night, so I’m putting Crews and MVP right in there. The Raw tag title match is also a plausible choice for this spot.

Sonya’s match should go in Segment 3 or Segment 4, so that it is not adjacent to either of Asuka’s matches. I’d also prefer to keep Seth and Sonya away from each other, since they each have variations on a No Disqualification stipulation. The only way this can happen is with Sonya in Segment 3 and Seth in Segment 5.

That leaves the Street Profits for Segment 4.

Finalized card

So here is my final prediction for the match order at SummerSlam, along with guesses on the bell-to-bell match times:

Segment 1: Bayley vs. Asuka (10 minutes)
Segment 2: Apollo Crews vs. MVP (9)
Segment 3: Mandy Rose vs. Sonya Deville (8)
Segment 4: Street Profits vs. Andrade & Angel Garza (11)
Segment 5: Dominik Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins (15)
Segment 6: Sasha Banks vs. Asuka (14)
Segment 7: Braun Strowman vs. Bray Wyatt (13)
Segment 8: Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton (19)

That’s my prediction for the match order at SummerSlam 2020. What’s yours?